And at Christmas You Tell the Truth
by arysa13
Summary: Betty asks Archie to be her fake boyfriend for her work Christmas party


"Arch, I need a huuuge favour," Betty says, waltzing into his room and throwing herself onto the bed beside him. He'd been trying to get a quick nap in before work tonight, but now that Betty's home he's wide awake. He rolls over onto his side to face her, propping himself up on his elbow.

They've been roommates for a year, and he's used to her impromptu visits to his room by now. It's honestly the best part of his day.

"What's the favour?" he asks. He's pretty sure he's going to say yes. It's Betty, of course he's going to say yes.

"Come to my work Christmas party with me?"

Archie grins. "Yeah, of course. This is more like an invitation than a favour," he points out.

"That wasn't the favour part."

"Oh?" he raises an eyebrow. Betty looks a little sheepish, and he's wondering what kind of situation she's gotten herself into that she needs his help.

"You know that guy at work who keeps harassing me to go out with him?"

"Chuck, was it?"

"That's the one."

"Do I need to punch him in the face? Because last time I offered you said you could handle it," Archie says.

"I did handle it," Betty says proudly. "I told him I had a boyfriend."

"Okay…." Archie says slowly. He's still waiting for the part where she asks him for a favour.

"And he didn't believe me so I told him he could meet my boyfriend at the Christmas party."

Archie squints at her, beginning to understand where this is going, but needing her to say it out loud. "So, you need me to…"

"Pretend to be my boyfriend for the night, yes."

Archie hesitates. It's not that he doesn't want to help her out. The thought of this guy constantly hitting on her while she's just trying to do her job makes him want to march down to her office and knock him out. He just hadn't been expecting _this_ to be Betty's solution.

He wants to tell her yes, but he's not sure he can handle pretending to be her boyfriend. Mostly because he'd like to be her _actual_ boyfriend, and he's kind of pretty much in love with her, but she doesn't feel the same way and being her pretend boyfriend, even for a night, might end up hurting him even more in the long run.

But she's looking at him with those big green eyes, pleading him to come to her rescue, and how can he say no to her?

"Yeah, of course," he tells her. He swallows, already conjuring up images of the two of them walking into the party together, arm in arm, everyone under the impression they're a couple. He likes the fantasy a little too much.

"Yes!" Betty exclaims, throwing her arms around him. "Thanks, Arch, you're the best!"

Archie laughs. Her ecstatic reaction is reason enough for him to go through with this. He just hopes he doesn't regret it.

* * *

The party is being held at the office Betty works at, so even though it's being held after work hours, it's not exactly a fancy affair. Archie offers to just meet her there, but she insists on going home and picking him up, seeing as how he's already doing her such a huge favour.

She's got her hair out, which is unusual for her, and she looks so pretty Archie thinks he might actually die. He thinks about how lucky he'd have to be for her to be his real girlfriend.

Knots form in his stomach as Betty drives them back to her office, and Archie is suddenly worried that it's going to be obvious to everyone that they aren't really together.

"Do we need to come up with a story of how we got together?" Archie asks.

"I'm sure no one will ask," Betty says. Archie isn't convinced. Betty seems to sense his reservations, and she removes her hand from the steering wheel to place it on his knee. The simple contact gets Archie's heart racing. "It's going to be fine," Betty assures him. "All you have to do is hold my hand when we walk in and if anyone asks you say we're together. People are always thinking we're a couple when we hang out together anyway."

That's true. "But what about Chuck?" Archie asks.

"I'll handle Chuck. And besides, once he sees you, he'll back off."

"If you're sure," Archie says. He still isn't convinced. After all, it's a Christmas party with a bunch of journalists. They're bound to be good at hounding people until they get the truth. The only thing worse would be a Christmas party at a police station. Still, he promised Betty he'd do this, and if she thinks they can pull it off, who is he to disagree?

Archie feels like he might vomit as he and Betty walk through the front doors. She grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze, and it doesn't completely put him at ease, but he relaxes a little knowing she's by his side.

Archie half expects the entire office to be staring at them when they walk in, but no one even looks up from their conversations. Archie looks over the room, people standing around drinking out of plastic cups, gaudy Christmas decorations on desks and on the walls. Someone has even hung mistletoe from the ceiling. Archie makes a mental note to steer clear of it.

Betty helps him take off his coat as Archie studies her co-workers, trying to work out which one is Chuck.

"He's the tall one by the photocopier," Betty whispers, as if reading Archie's mind. He looks towards the photocopier, where a tall, obviously muscular black guy is talking to a chubby redhead. Archie blanches. He'd been expecting some skinny, gross looking pervert, someone Archie could easily take in a fight. Chuck is… intimidating to say the least.

" _That's_ him?"

"Yep."

"You could have warned me."

"Warned you?"

"That he's bigger than me," Archie grimaces.

Betty gives him a disapproving look. "You're not going to fight him."

"Not now I'm not."

Betty laughs at that, and Archie sees Chuck look up from his conversation. Archie and Chuck lock eyes, and Chuck gives him the once over, sizing him up the way Archie had done when he first laid eyes on Chuck.

Chuck mutters something to the redhead, and then he's approaching them, and the sick feeling in Archie's stomach returns.

"Betty," Chuck says. "This must be your boyfriend?"

"Yes," Betty says. "Chuck, this is Archie. Archie, Chuck."

Archie holds out his hand and Chuck gives him a firm handshake.

"I thought Archie was your roommate?" Chuck says, raising an eyebrow. "Your best friend."

"Well, he was. And now we're together," Betty tells him. Archie admires the way she holds her ground under Chuck's intense stare.

"And how did that happen?" Chuck presses. Archie can tell he isn't buying it.

"Excuse me?"

"How did you two get together?" Chuck repeats. Betty glances at Archie and he does his best to not look like a deer in headlights.

The redhead Chuck had previously been talking to bustles over, along with a couple of Betty's other co-workers, including her friend Kevin, who Archie has met a couple of times.

"Ooh, I want to hear too," says the redhead.

"Come on, Ethel," Betty rolls her eyes. "It's really not that interesting."

"We want to hear," Chuck commands.

Betty swallows. She looks nervous all of a sudden. "Well—" she starts.

"How about I tell it?" Archie interjects. Maybe he'd been anxious about this before, but seeing _Betty_ anxious seems to have kicked in some innate sense he has to protect her. Plus, she's probably the worst liar he's ever met.

"Okay," Betty says, relieved.

"Well, the truth is—" Archie starts. And then he figures, why not tell the truth? At least part of it? After all, Betty won't _know_ he's telling the truth. She'll think it's made up for the story. "The truth is, I realised about a year ago that I was in love with Betty. And I didn't know what to do about it. We grew up together, you know, we've been best friends since we we're kids. And I figured she didn't feel the same way, so I said nothing."

"That is so heartbreaking," Ethel says, putting her hand on her heart.

"Shh!" Kevin shushes her. "I'm listening."

"And then, uh—" Archie glances at Betty to find her listening intently, her eyes wide, hanging on his every word. "And then one night we went out with friends to a bar. Kevin was there," Archie nods to Kevin. "And we were both still a little tipsy when we got home, and Betty couldn't get the key in the door, and she was getting so frustrated. It was cute. And then when I laughed, she told me to do it, and I guess I just couldn't help myself and I kissed her. And it turned out she did feel the same way after all," Archie shrugs. He looks to Betty again and she quickly looks away, her face bright red.

"Exactly," she says. "And now we're together."

Chuck doesn't look impressed, but the others seem satisfied. Still, Chuck doesn't push it instead skulking off to find someone else to talk to, and it seems like they're finally off the hook.

"Archie, can I get you a drink?" Kevin asks.

"Sure," Archie nods. He glances at Betty, but she's already deep in conversation with Ethel and another woman, so Archie follows Kevin over to the drink station, which is just a table with a cooler full of ice and beer, and next to it a large bowl of punch.

"Punch or beer?" Kevin asks.

"Beer," Archie decides, and Kevin hands him a bottle.

"That was some story," Kevin muses.

"Well," Archie sips his beer. "It's true."

"Most of it, anyway," Kevin says knowingly. "I remember that night. About a month ago now. That was the second time we met."

"Uh, yeah," Archie nods.

"I'm in on it, by the way," Kevin says. "I know you guys aren't really together."

"Oh."

"You should tell her."

"Tell who what?" Archie asks, taking another sip of his beer.

"Tell Betty that you really are in love with her."

Archie chokes on his beer, coughing dramatically as the bubbly liquid sprays out of his mouth and all over Kevin. "Sorry," Archie coughs as Kevin grimaces. "I'm not really in love with her though."

"Come on Archie, we both know the only part of that story that wasn't real was the part where you kissed her," Kevin rolls his eyes. "I've only met you three times and it's that obvious to me."

Archie sighs. He looks over his shoulder to where Betty is laughing with some of her co-workers. "I mean, the other part that isn't true is the part where she loves me back," he admits.

Kevin tilts his head. "You sure about that?"

* * *

Surprisingly, Betty's work party is actually kind of fun, once Archie manages to relax. None of Betty's co-workers are hard to convince that Archie and Betty are a couple. Except Kevin, who already knows the truth. And Chuck, who still seems suspicious, and who, unfortunately, is the one they most want to convince. He keeps trying to catch them out, asking them supposedly innocent questions about their relationship like, _what do you parents think of your relationship?_ Or making snide comments like, _you've only been dating a month and you're already living together?_

But neither Archie nor Betty let Chuck get to them. If he wants to be bitter, that's his problem. Archie is relieved Betty never decided to go out with him. The guy is a nightmare.

At around eight-thirty, Betty interrupts Archie's conversation with a guy named Dilton, snuggling into his side, and putting her arms around his waist. Archie's arm circles around her shoulders as if it's second nature.

"We should go home," Betty murmurs. "I'm sick of these people."

Archie chuckles, thankful Dilton is already engaged in a conversation with someone else so he doesn't hear Betty's remark.

"Okay," Archie replies. He presses a kiss to her hair, then swallows the last couple of mouthfuls of beer before throwing the bottle in the trash.

"I should say goodbye to Kevin first," Betty sighs.

"I'll get our coats."

Betty wanders off to find Kevin, while Archie makes his way back to the entrance where their coats are hanging on hooks by the door. He slips his own coat on, folding Betty's over his arm while he waits. It only takes her a minute, and then he helps her with her coat. She turns back around to face him for a moment, a small smile on her lips, before looking back to the rest of the office.

"Bye, everyone!" she calls.

There's a half-hearted chorus of goodbyes, and then, "Wait!" Ethel yells. Archie and Betty stare at her in confusion. "Look up," she says, pointing to the roof above them.

In unison, Archie and Betty tilt their heads to the ceiling. Sure enough, right above their heads is a sprig of mistletoe. Archie is positive that wasn't there before. Someone must have moved it.

"Oh, how convenient," Chuck smirks. "Some mistletoe." He sounds so smug, as if he's finally caught them out. Like he knows they won't kiss in order to keep up the charade. Which means they absolutely have to.

Archie lowers his eyes back to Betty's. She looks a little nervous, but she gives him a tiny nod, as if to tell him it's okay to kiss her. Archie swallows. He's been dreaming about this so long. He never thought their first kiss would be at a work Christmas party under some mistletoe in front of all Betty's co-workers. He also recognises that he needs to make this look like he's kissed her before. He can't let himself get carried away.

He leans in, keeping his eyes locked on Betty's until the last moment, letting them flutter closed just before their lips meet. He's gentle with her, tender. His hand hovers in mid-air for a moment before he grips her waist. He tells himself to pull away. They've done their little show, he's kissed her. But then he thinks this might be the only time he ever gets to kiss her. And if this is the only time he gets to do it, he's going to make it good.

He kisses her harder, and he thinks maybe he hears her moan a little. The sound makes his stomach flip over. He likes how her lips part for him as she kisses him back, and he takes the opportunity to slide his tongue into her mouth, and then she _definitely_ moans, louder, and the only thing that stops Archie from pressing her against the wall and ripping her clothes off right there is the wolf whistle that cuts through the fog in his head, and he quickly pulls away from her, face burning and heart pounding.

Betty's face is the colour of beetroot, and her chest rises and falls dramatically as she tries to catch her breath. She averts her eyes from Archie, but he can't seem to take his eyes off her.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it!" Toni yells. "You're still in the honeymoon phase."

Archie glances at Chuck, who finally looks like he's been convinced that their relationship is real, but he doesn't exactly look happy about it.

"Come on," Archie says to Betty. "Let's go."

Betty is completely silent as they make their way back to her car, and Archie is sincerely regretting the kiss already. She obviously hated it. He'd crossed the line by kissing her like that, in front of all her co-workers. Why couldn't he have kept it short and chaste?

Betty unlocks the car and gets into the driver's seat, and Archie slides into the passenger seat. He closes the door behind him, an apology already falling out of his mouth.

"Betty, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have—" he starts, but Betty cuts him off.

"Shut up," she says, and then she's surging towards him, grabbing his face in her hands and pulling his lips to hers. It's Archie's turn to moan this time, and she gives him a kiss that leaves him gasping for air and desperate for more.

"Betty—" he murmurs, his lips chasing hers. She kisses him again, and Archie's head spins, or maybe it's the world around him that's spinning. She eventually pulls away and sits back in her seat, much to Archie's disappointment. He'd like to keep kissing her forever.

His eyes linger on her, and she bites her lip, looking down like she's embarrassed about the whole thing.

"What was that?" he asks her, still a little breathless.

"Did you mean all that stuff you said?"

"What stuff?"

"How you've been in love with me for a year," she glances at him.

"I mean—" he swallows. "Kind of. I _realised_ I loved you a year ago. I think I've _actually_ been in love with you a lot longer."

Somehow it's easy now to say it out loud. Maybe it was the kiss, or Kevin's words of advice, or maybe just because she finally asked him outright.

She looks at him properly then, for the first time since he kissed her. "Me too," she admits. "I love you too."

"Yeah?" Archie grins. Butterflies swarm in his stomach and his heart swells.

"Yeah," Betty smiles.

"How'd you keep it a secret? You're a terrible liar," Archie laughs.

"Shut up," Betty gives him a soft nudge. "We fooled all of them, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but could we fool them into thinking we're _not_ in love?"

"Point taken."

"So, uh, do you want to be my _actual_ girlfriend?" Archie asks.

Betty gives him a giddy smile. "Yes. A thousand times yes."

Archie laughs, and then Betty's kissing him again, and Archie thinks it might just be the best Christmas party he's ever been to.


End file.
